


He Mea Hopena (A Sweet End)

by Kitsune_Moonstar



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Case Fic, Cupcakes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2018-09-21 07:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9537200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsune_Moonstar/pseuds/Kitsune_Moonstar
Summary: When Danny finds himself unable to get a job as a cop in Hawaii, salvation comes in the form of Kalakaua Cupcakes.  The owner, Kailani Kalakaua, hires him as an assistant baker.  Sure, Danny's only baking experience comes from helping out in his cousin's bakery, but at least it gets him to Hawaii and able to see Grace on a regular basis.  When Kailani suffers a stroke shortly before an appearance on Cupcake Wars, it falls to Danny and her niece to represent them in the competition.Steve is pretty sure that Governor Denning was punishing him.  He might be pleased that Five-0 uncovered his predecessor's corruption, but he hadn't exactly given the team a warm welcome.  And it's the only reason Steve can think of that he would have been chosen to represent the islands on a special episode of Cupcake Wars as a guest judge, especially when the team is in the middle of an investigation.  What he isn't prepared for is the case and cupcakes to intersect or one of the contestants might hold the key to solving it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or its characters. I also do not own Cupcake Wars.

 

"Detective Williams?"

"This is he," Danny held his breath.  According to the caller id, the number was Hawaiian, which might mean he'd finally landed a job that would let him see Grace on a regular basis.

"This is Kailani Kalakaua.  I understand that you've been looking for police work in the Honolulu area and that you have a daughter in the area?"

Looking was an understatement.  Desperately searching was more like it.  Danny had even applied any sort of security guard work he could find after striking out with every single police department and law enforcement agency with a two mile radius of Honolulu.  At this point he would take anything that got him to Grace.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Unfortunately, I can't offer you anything in law enforcement.  I wish I could, but it is what it is.  However, I do have a fulltime position open with my business that I think would work.  I, of course, understand that you would leave if you found anything in law enforcement locally, but it would at least get you to Hawaii.  But as I said, it's full time work in Honolulu, and you can start as soon as you can get out here."

It wasn't exactly the news he was hoping for, but it had been nearly three months since Danny had last seen his daughter.  And it wasn't like any opportunities were presenting themselves.  And Kailani must know someone in law enforcement if she'd heard about his job search, so maybe that would be a good connection to make.

"I'll take it."

 

* * *

 

There was very little that Danny didn't hate about Hawaii.  He wasn't a fan of the beach or the sunshine or the sand or the tourists.  He wasn't particularly fond of the cost of living.  Or the fact that other than a select few, most of the Hawaiians he'd met hadn't exactly made him feel welcome.  But the precious little time he got to spend with Grace made it worth it.

And to be fair both his boss and his coworkers were friendly enough, though if the precinct back home ever found out he was working in a cupcake shop, Danny would never hear the end of it.  As it was, Danny could think of worse fates.  Kailani Kalakaua had turned out to be a rather spry sixty year old, who ran her shop with an iron fist and a mellow attitude.  The woman might be tiny, but she was rather fierce, and Danny had the utmost respect for her.  She had built Kalakaua Cupcakes up from the ground after her husband had died two years ago and turned it into an incredibly popular local business.  Danny had mostly been hired so Kailani could do more managing than physical labor.

The two other women who worked in the shop were both relatives of Kailani.  Naia was a cousin of some sort and, she was a senior at University of Hawaii, finishing up a degree in Environmental Science.  She worked the counter mainly along with Kailani.  Iolana was a junior in high school, and she was being groomed to take over the business once she was older.  The teenager was the main creative force for the shop.  She came up with many of their unique flavor combinations and decorations.

Danny mostly was in the back doing the actually baking under Kailani's careful supervision.  He had actually worked in a bakery before when he was a teenager, but that had been out front and not doing much of the actual baking.  Now he spent his days mixing and baking cupcake batter.  It wasn't the worst job in the world, but Danny missed being a detective.  He still hadn't had any luck in finding any sort of police work; in fact, it seemed worse now that he was trying in person.   At least Grace loved his new workplace.  And everyone at Kalakaua Cupcakes adored Grace.

With a sigh, he finished scooping another tray of mocha cupcakes and slid them into the oven.  The one good thing about his job was he mostly had his evenings free unless there was some sort of special event they were catering.  That was a great thing when he had Grace, but it could be a drawback as well when it meant he had hours to spend alone in his little shoebox of an apartment.  The other bonus that came with his job was the fact that more than a few of Kailani's relatives worked in law enforcement, which meant she was plugged into to the local police grapevine, at least tangentially.

Which meant that Danny got to hear all of the scuttlebutt about the new task force that the governor had put together and its crazy leader.  Some of the stories had to be exaggerations though because Danny could not believe that the governor would actually let someone throw suspects in a shark cage.  Still, the task force seemed to be pretty effective so far, and the Honolulu Police Department didn't seem to like the new task force any more than they liked Danny, so he tended to be on the side of the task force.

"Danny, can you whip up another batch of the Citrus Dream cupcakes?" Iolana popped her head into the kitchen.  "We have a last minute order for this evening."

"Sure.  Do we need anything else?"

The teen frowned.  "I think we're good otherwise.  We were only low on the Maui Mochas."

"Those should be done in half an hour.  I'll take them out just before I run pick up, Grace, but someone else will have to take the Citrus Dreams out of the oven."

"Fantastic.  Thanks, Danny.  Let me know when you're heading out."

"Will do."

The drive to Grace's school doesn't take long, and as much as part of Danny bristles at the fancy private school that Stan got her into, he has to admit that it is a really good school.  His daughter's face lit up when she spotted him waiting for her, and before he knew Danny had his arms full of Grace, and she was talking a mile a minute telling him about her day.

"Are we going to go to the bakery today, Danno?"

"For a little bit, yes."

"And I can pick out cupcakes for dessert tonight?"

"You may pick out a cupcake for dessert."

When they arrived back at Kalakaua Cupcakes, they found the storefront empty save for a tall Hawaiian woman leaning against the counter and chatting with Iolana about surfing.  Iolana grinned at them.

"Kono, this is Danny, our fantastic assistant baker, and his daughter, Grace.  This is my cousin, Kono."

The tall woman smiled.  "Nice to meet you.  It's good to know that Auntie Kailani finally got some help.  We were worried she was going to burn out eventually."

"I was happy for the opportunity."

"So, from the accent I'd say you're not from around here.  Started surfing yet?"

Grace groaned.  "I want to learn, but Danno doesn't like any of the teachers, especially since the last one said that he couldn't learn to surf too because of his knee."

"I tore my ACL a number of years ago, and on occasion the knee still gives me trouble," Danny explained.

Kono frowned at that.  "That shouldn't mean you can't surf.  You just have to be careful.  I blew out my knee years ago.  Ruined my chances with the Pros, but I still surf all the time.  You two want lesson, you give me a call and we'll work something out."

"Thanks for the offer."  He still wasn't sold on the idea that surfing was exactly a safe pastime for his daughter for multiple reasons, but at least now they had a much better plan for Grace learning to surf if that ended up happening.

"Can I pick out my cupcakes now, Danno?"

"One cupcake, Monkey.  You know the rules.  I'll be about thirty minutes.  You can either hang out front here with Iolana or come back and join me once you've picked out your cupcake."

Grace nodded, and Danny headed into the back to finish up for the afternoon.  This was not what he'd planned on doing with his life, but at least things were pretty decent.

 

* * *

 

 Steve looked up from his computer when Kono set down a small box on his desk.

"What's this?"

"You need a break, boss, and since I know you won't go home tonight, I got you a little something.  These are from my Auntie's shop and guaranteed to help improve your mood.  I got your four.  Enjoy."

And with that she was gone, leaving the little blue and green box behind.  Steve sighed and privately admitted that she had a point.  He had been sifting through files for the past five hours trying to come up with connections between their most recent cases and his dad's investigation.  Steve hated how in the dark he was about everything.  He knew he had the pieces of the puzzle in front of him, but he just couldn't figure out how they all went together.

Needing the distraction from the case, he turned his attention to the box Kono had left and quickly opened the lid.  Then he blinked.  Kono had gotten him cupcakes.  Four brightly colored cupcakes in fact.  Figuring that Kono wasn't out to poison him, Steve selected the one with pale orange frosting and took a bite.  His eyes slipped shut as a burst of citrus flavor hit his tongue.  The cupcake was gone before he even realized it.  Steve turned his attention to the remaining three cupcakes, trying to figure out which one to taste next.

He ended up devouring all for cupcakes in less than ten minutes and mournfully stared at the empty box.  Maybe he could convince Kono to start bringing them in regularly.

 

* * *

 

Whistling to himself as he finished mixing up a batter, Danny carefully filled the cupcake pan with liners.  This was the last batch to get in the oven for the morning.  Then he'd have a bit of a lull before the afternoon rush hit.  Kailani wandered back into the kitchen with a smile.

"How're we doing?"

"Everything's on schedule so far," he told her.

"Good.  I have some exciting news for us.  I just got off the phone wisth--"

Danny frowned at the way her speech started to slur.  "Kailani?  I need you to hold out both your arms for me?"

She tried to frown at him but did as he asked. Or tried to.  Danny's heart sank.

"Naia!  Call 911.  Now.  Tell them to send an ambulance immediately for a potential stroke."

He grabbed one of the few chairs in the kitchen and eased Kailani down into it.

"I need you to stay calm for me.  Okay, Kailani?  I think you're having a stroke.  We've got medial help on the way, so don't worry."

The paramedics were there within minutes and quickly took over from Danny.  He watched as they loaded Kailani on a stretcher and then turn his attention to a shell shocked Naia.

"Naia.  Do you know if Kailani is on any medications?"

She startled but met his eyes.  "Yes.  I think so."

Danny nodded.  "Okay.  I'm going to have you go with the ambulance while I close up here.  Who in your family should I call?"

He managed to get a couple of numbers out of her before the ambulance was ready to go.  Once they were gone, Danny flipped the door sign to 'Closed' and got to work on closing up the shop for the day even as he reached for the phone.  Calling to let Kailani's family know that she had gone to the hospital with a potential stroke wasn't fun, but he'd had to do worse back when he was a detective.  It was nearly an hour later before he was able to head to the hospital himself.

When he arrived, it didn't take him long to be directed to a waiting room.  There were several people inside including Naia and a woman that Danny recognized as Iolana's mother, Noelani.  The moment she spotted Danny she headed straight for him.

"She's going to be okay, but we don't know how bad the damage is yet.  But the doctors say that getting her treatment immediately made a huge difference."

Danny offered her a small smile.  "I'm glad.  I have the shop closed up for the day.  I didn't know what we want to do about tomorrow, so I just put up a sign that we were closed due to an emergency."

Noelani sighed.  "Thanks Danny.  We'll probably want to be open tomorrow.  I've got the family phone tree going to see who might be able to help out.  The good news is between Uncle's pension and Auntie's savings, Kailani won't have to worry about her finances.  I'm going to come down tomorrow and sort through the office and see if there's anything that needs to be taken care of immediately."

"Just let me know what you need me to do.  I'm happy to help."

"Thank you.  Kailani knew what she was doing when she hired you."

 

* * *

 

The upset tone of Kono's voice stopped Steve in his tracks.  She was clutching her cell phone in one hand even as she listened to the person on the other end.  Kono nodded a few times in response to whatever the other person was saying, and the look on her face got more and more pinched.  By the time she hung up though, Kono just looked lost.

"Kono?"

She scrubbed a hand over her face.  "One of the aunties just had a stroke.  We were lucky.  One of her employees recognized the signs and called 911 immediately, but she's going to be out of commission for a while.  Noelani's trying to figure out what needs to be taken care of.  It sound like they've got Kailani's shop well in hand though.  It's just making arrangements for rehab and help at home when Kailani gets out of the hospital."

Steve patted her on the back.  "Let me know if you need time off, and I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Steve."

 

* * *

 

Things had gotten a little bit crazy at work.  True to her word, Noelani had come in and helped get things organized.  Iolana took over a lot of the business side of things which meant less time in the kitchen or at the counter for her.  Danny was now doing almost everything in the kitchen with the exception of the decorations.  They had a rotating group of cousins that were helping cover the counter, not that Danny really ever met any of them as he rarely left the kitchen during the day anymore.  Still, things were going well.

Or at least he thought they were until he came back from his lunch to find Iolana sitting in the kitchen close to tears.

"What's wrong?"

Iolana sniffed.  "I know Auntie was trying to do something good for the business, but it's a huge mess now because I'm under eighteen, and they won't let me be in charge or even be on the show unless there's a real adult running things, and--"

"Take a breath, kiddo.  What's going on?"

Iolana took a deep breath.  "Auntie Kailani signed us up for Cupcake Wars.  Me and her I mean.  And we actually got selected.  They're doing a special episode filmed here in the islands.  Except now Auntie can't be on the show."

And Danny, Kailani, and Iolana were really the only ones who did any work in the kitchen.  Kailani and Iolana were the real masterminds though.  While Danny had gotten good at baking, he didn't exactly have their instincts about flavor combinations.

"Would they take me as a replacement?  I mean, you're going to have to come up with the cupcake flavors and decoration ideas, but we don't have to tell the TV people that."

Iolana blinked.  "You would be willing to do that?"

Danny shrugged.  "How bad can it be?  Besides, it will be good for the shop."

 

* * *

 

Steve was really going to have to find out where Kono kept getting the cupcakes from.  She had a tendency to bring them in for everyone after a hard case, and Steve would have to admit he was rather addicted to them.  And he could definitely use the pick me up at the moment.  Things had become more than a little bit crazy with the discovery that Pat Jamison was in cahoots with Wo Fat and her involvement with the Yakuza.  Steve and his team had been able to deal with that, but not before Wo Fat had framed Steve for Jamison's death.  His team had helped him clear his name, but everything seemed a little bit off now.

Denning, the new governor, had kept Five-Oh, but he had insisted on adding Lori Weston to the team.  There wasn't anything wrong with Lori exactly, but Steve hadn't picked her for the team, and he didn't trust her.  It also didn't help that Lori had made it very clear that she was interested in Steve.  He and Cath had cooled things since Billy had come back into her life, but Steve wasn't really looking for another relationship at the moment, not even another friends with benefits arrangement.  And especially not with someone he didn't trust.  There had been too much betrayal lately.

He sighed, reaching for one of the stacks of paperwork he had been trying to avoid.  He might as well get something done.

 

* * *

 

Danny had not expected that his decision to help out with this Cupcake Wars thing to result in both Iolana and Grace insisting on watching as many Cupcake Wars episodes as they could get their hands on in order to see if they could figure out what might help Kalakaua Cupcakes win this thing.  Danny quickly came to the realization that their competition for this thing was going to be on the crazy side.  And that they were going to have to make sure they ticked all the boxes for what the judges looked for.

He and Iolana also had started deciding on which recipes they would want to use and perfecting them.  Sure there would be one cupcake that they would have to make up on the spot for the challenge ingredient, but if they could figure out what recipes they might want to use for the other three cupcakes beforehand they would be ahead of the game.  Admittedly, without know what the theme of the episode would be it was hard to make final decisions, but if they had six go to recipes, that would probably enough.

The pair of them had decided that they definitely wanted to bring their mocha cupcake to the competition.  It was hard to go wrong with coffee and chocolate.  Iolana wanted to make sure that they had Hawaiian flavors included, so that meant at least one of their fruit flavored cupcakes.  Danny was partial to their citrus cupcake, though he had to admit that it wasn't as unique as some of their more iconic Hawaiian flavors.  As much as Danny would rather showcase more diverse flavors, he could understand why they needed to have recipes that people would instantly connect with Hawaii.

They really didn't know what to expect from the episode other than it was going to be filmed here in Hawaii.  Danny had no idea what the episode's theme might be or even why they were filming Hawaii instead of L.A. like they normally did.  Still, Danny was well aware that this could be a very good thing for the bakery, and he was determined that the get it right.  Even if it meant that he was now dreaming about cupcakes.

Grace was far more excited about this whole thing than Danny had expected.  Apparently she watched the show with her mom on a regular basis, and she was looking forward to seeing her dad on it.  It was nice to know she was rooting for him, and she was always willing taste test any recipe that Iolana wanted to try.  All in all, things were shaping up pretty well for the competition.  And it definitely felt good to think that he could pay back Kailani for some of the kindness she had shown in hiring him.

 

* * *

 

Steve was about ready to tear his hair out.  He knew they were missing something.  They had to be.  The drugs were being distributed somehow.  Steve just couldn't find that distribution point.  The team even had a suspects.  They just hadn't had any hard evidence to connect brothers Akira and Daisuke Natsuoka with the new strain of heroin that was hitting Honolulu hard.  It wasn't very prevalent yet, but it had already caused enough damage to Steve's way of thinking.

Unfortunately, other than arresting a few dealers and knowing that both Akira and Daisuke had connections with the Yakuza, and Akira happened to be a pharmaceutical chemist, the team didn't have much to go on.  Chin was waiting to hear back from a number of his informants about the brothers, but so far they hadn't found anyone willing to talk.  At least, anyone who actually knew anything.  They were conducting surveillance on the Natsuoka brothers and their close associates, but so far nothing had turned up. 

As much as Steve knew that logically, they had to have some place close by where the drugs were made and stored, it seemed like they were coming from nowhere.  It didn't help that the governor was breathing down their necks about this one.  Two of the early victims had influential parents who were pushing for someone to blame for what happened to their children.  Steve had every intention of bringing those responsible for the drug to justice, but it was hard working when you had someone constantly demanding updates at the most in inopportune times.

Still, at least they had something to work off of.  They did know that the Natsuoka brothers had a history with the Yakuza and had been involved with another drug ring when they were younger.  They had gotten off due to a good lawyer and the fact that they had barely been adults.  Unfortunately, this time around they were being much more careful about their activities.  But they would slip eventually, and Steve would be ready for them when they did.

 

* * *

 

Danny looked around the kitchen for the third time trying to figure out if he had forgotten something.  The folks from Cupcake Wars were coming to film his and Iolana's introduction for the show.  He'd been told that they would want to film them doing something with cupcakes as well as packing up any of their own gear that they wanted to bring with them for the show.  Danny had a tray of chocolate cupcakes ready to frost and decorate as well as most of their specialty tools and ingredients as well as both of their mixers ready to pack.  He was certain that there was something that he had forgotten to pull out.  Despite the fact that they would be provided with a pantry of ingredients and tools, Danny might have been a little paranoid that they would forget something they absolutely needed for the competition.

Iolana was relatively calm by comparison.  Then again, this was her comfort zone.  The bakery was her natural habitat, and Danny was pretty sure that despite the added pressure of having cameras on them, the teen would excel anyway.  He, on the other hand, was not made for this sort of thing.  Still, he would do his best.  He knew that Iolana and her family were counting on this competition to help the shop's publicity as well as increase their savings.  Having Kailani unable to work hadn't crippled them, but having extra cash on hand certainly wouldn't be a bad thing.

"I think they're here, Danny," Iolana called from the front.

After about thirty minutes of getting all the equipment set up, Danny found himself finally filming their introduction.

"My name is Danny Williams, and I'm the assistant baker at Kalakaua Cupcakes in Honolulu, Hawaii.  We're a small storefront in downtown Honolulu.  The shop's been open about two years.  We specialize in Hawaiian flavors and fresh ingredients.  My assistant is Iolana Kalakaua.  She's the niece of our owner and will be taking over the shop after she finishes high school and gets her culinary degree.  It's important for us to win this competition since it will provide nest egg for the shop, but also since it's something that we can do to help out our owner.  Kailani Kalakaua recently suffered a stroke, and while she's recovering, she's not ready to be back in the kitchen.  That's why I'm here, and why we're determined to win."

 

* * *

 

Steve was pretty sure that Governor Denning was punishing him for something.  It was the only reason that he could think of for the man to force him to be a guest judge on Cupcake Wars.  Yes, Steve was pleased that his task force was being honored at a local event, but throwing in reality TV didn't seem like a good idea.  Especially since Steve really didn't know anything about cupcakes and had far more important work to be doing if they were going to crack their current case.  He just knew that nothing good would come of this


	2. Chapter 2

Danny was doing his very best not to be too intimidated by the competition.  Iolana seemed perfectly calm surrounded by a bunch of older bakers, but Danny was beginning to get nervous.  It didn't help that he was the only man present either.  He wasn't the only haole at least.  Still, they were one of the newer bakeries participating, and Danny wasn't exactly a baking expert.  Though he did have to admit that at least his team didn't look nearly as silly as some of the others did.  Kalakaua Cupcakes didn't have any kind of uniform, so he and Iolana had decided to show up in what they normally wore to work: for Iolana that was a brightly colored tank top and for Danny it was a button up shirt with the shelves rolled up.  They did have matching aprons though in the same blue and green that Kalakaua Cupcakes' boxes were.

They recorded some opening interviews before being sent out into the kitchen.  It didn't take Danny and Iolana long to get set up at their station which was a good thing as they only had about ten minutes before people were getting into place to start filming.  It did give him enough time though to really size up the competition.  The three other teams weren't anyone that he knew personally, though he had heard of Kiki's Cupcakes which was over in the Waikiki area.  Its co-owners, Kiki Mori and Tara Hamada, were at the station across from Danny and Iolana.  Both of the other two teams were from different islands.  The mother and daughter team of Lara and Leila Lawrence had a shop on Maui somewhere while Joan Hale and Charlotte Kahale had a cupcake shop in Hilo on the Big Island.

The two regular judges were already in the spots at a long table towards the front of the room.  Danny wasn't too worried about Candace, but Florian was another story.  He was the one they would have to impress if they wanted to win this thing.  There was a spot at the end of the table for their guest judge, and Danny had no idea of who to expect.  Iolana caught his eye and gave him a quick smile even as the camera crew signaled that they were starting to film.  The show's host strode out into the room.

"What's up bakers?  Come on up and join me."

Danny took his place in front of the judge's table, waiting to hear what their theme was.

"Welcome to a very special episode of Cupcake Wars held on site in the Hawaiian Islands.  You're going to have to be at the top of your game if you want have your cupcakes featured at a very special gala featuring Hawaii's finest with law enforcement from all around the islands including the Five Oh Task Force.  And if that isn't enough for you, you also will walk away with ten thousand dollars." Justin Willman grinned at them all.  "Sounds exciting folks?  Then let's get to it.  Today, there will be three rounds of competition.  After each round, one of you will be eliminated.  First up as you know is the taste challenge.  Since we're in a tropical paradise, on the tables before you will be a number of fruit found here locally.  Everything from the pineapple to the mango and the Rambutan.  We're asking that you incorporate three fruit into your cupcake.  Good luck. You have forty-five minutes.  The clock starts now."

He hurried forward to survey the table and see what they had to work with.  Danny was thankful to see a number of familiar looking fruits on the table.  They would have to change up the recipe a little, but the citrus cupcake that he and Iolana had practiced should work.  Pomelo, Calamondin lime, and Rambutan would be their three challenge ingredients.

"What's the plan?" Iolana asked when he made his way back to her.

"Pomelo and Rambutan cupcake with Calamondin lime buttercream.  Let's go the extra mile and make a shield decoration to go with it."

Iolana nodded.  "Right.  I'll start the frosting.  You get to work on the batter."

Mixing up the batter was familiar, and Danny tried to focus on that rather than the clock.  He was grateful that he and Iolana had spent so much time practicing various cupcakes in anticipation of this challenge.  Danny would have preferred to have been able to stick with more citrus fruit than were offered as options by the challenge, but at least he knew that they both knew how to work with the ingredients.  The trickiest part would be making sure that all three flavors came through.  It was the Rambutan that Danny was really worried about.

He let out a sigh of relief once the batter was in the oven.  Iolana brought him a sample of the frosting she was working on to try.  Danny grinned.

"Tastes great.  Cupcakes should be done in fifteen.  Is that enough time to make a decoration?"

"I think so.  Worst comes to worst, we don't get it on the cupcakes.  And it doesn't matter for this round, so we might as well try."

And while Danny might not be the best at decorations, a police shield was something he was very familiar with.  The cupcakes came out of the oven looking good, and Danny quickly tucked them in the fridge to cool while Iolana did a once over of the decorations.  According to the clock, they had about five minutes left before they needed to have a finished product.  Which should be enough time.  The frosting was ready to go as soon as the cupcakes were cool enough.  The cupcakes might not be the most interesting to look at, pale cake topped with a pale yellow icing, but that wasn't the focus this round.

The final five minutes were a frenzy of activity throughout the kitchen, though Danny's little section was calmer than most of them.  It was clear that at least one of the teams had already run into a little difficulty.  But Danny had three cupcakes on his plate that had decorations as well as tasted great.  Not a bad start if he did say so himself.

"All right, bakers, you were tasked with using at three Hawaiian fruits to create a tropical delight for the islands' finest boys in blue.  You guys already know Candace and Florian, let's met our guest judge.  He's the leader of Hawaii's Five Oh Task Force, please welcome Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett."

* * *

 

Steve was doing his level best not to show just how uncomfortable he was at the moment.  This was really not something he was comfortable, but here was he stuck, and so he sat in his dress blues as four bakers presented plates of cupcakes to him.  At least he wasn't the only one who was out of place here.  Danny Williams was not someone he would have pegged for a cupcake baker, and he certainly didn't act like one.  If Steve didn't know better, he'd say the man was law enforcement of some sort.  But at least it seemed like he know what he was doing.  His plate of cupcakes looked neat and professional which couldn't be said for all of them.

At least he seems to be going through the motions all right as he takes his seat and the first plate of cupcakes is presented to him.  It's not the prettiest thing he's ever seen, and Steve really only listens with half an ear as the woman explained what he was tasting.  The older woman was saying something about pineapple, mango, and banana.  Steve just mostly tasted pineapple and said so.  The next cupcake he was presented with is rather eye blindingly bright with neon frosting that made him wince when he bit into it.  It wasn't bad, a little on the sweet side maybe, and all three flavors did come through.

Then Justin said, "Danny, what have you got for us?"

Steve couldn't help but sit up a little straighter as Danny began to talk about his cupcake.

"We've made a Pomelo and Rambutan cupcake with Calamondin lime buttercream.  We also added a little bit of flair with a silver fondant police shield.  I hope you enjoy."

Steve took a bite and couldn't help his eyes fluttering shut.  It wasn't quite as good as the citrus cupcakes that Kono kept bringing in to the office, but it was pretty fantastic.  And he couldn't help but note that the police shield was surprisingly accurate.  Not that they were judging decorations for this round, but it was still a nice touch.  The final cupcake was coconut, mango, and pineapple.  It wasn't bad, though it wasn't Steve's favorite either.

At least the judging for this round was pretty easy.  The first cupcake was the one to go since no one could taste all three flavors, and all three of them agreed on that decision.  So that was one round down, and only two more to go.

* * *

 

Round one had gone well.  No notes from the judges about what could be improved, and he hadn't been near the chopping block from  the sound of it.  That didn't mean that they could let down their guard.  In fact, it was probably time to step up their game if they could.  Danny looked at Iolana.

"What's the plan?"

Iolana grinned.  "So, I'm not sure what to do about the decorations.  I'm still thinking about those.  But cupcake wise I'm thinking we do our chocolate cake with a mocha frosting.  We've already done a citrus cake, so maybe a pineapple cake and frosting with a Li Hing Mui filling.  That'll be for Chin Ho Kelly who people keep saying has hidden depths.  And finally, for our last cupcake I'm thinking something a little unusual.  Something sweet and a little tangy like yuzu vanilla cupcakes.  "

Danny grinned.  "All right.  I'll get the batters started."

"I'll do frostings, and then we'll get to the decorations."

it was weird baking under all of the cameras, especially now that the pressure was really on them.  Danny did his best to ignore that and focus on getting things in the oven.  they might have more time this round, but they definitely had more to do.  And if the cameramen wanted drama, though could find it in one of the other kitchens.  Kiki and Tara from Kiki's Cupcakes had been squirrelly and on edge since it was announced that this would a law enforcement event, enough so that Danny had noticed.  And that was spilling over into tension in their kitchen.

"So, decorations.  I'm on the fence."

Danny shifted his attention from their competition to Iolana. "What about?"

"I can't decide whether to go more Hawaii or more law enforcement.  I was thinking a surfboard and a Hawaiian shirt.  I was also thinking an anchor since we have a lot of maritime policing going on with the Navy and the Coast Guard.  But that leaves only with the police shield as law enforcement icons, and that isn't even in this round."

Danny wrinkled his nose; he had no idea what would play better with the judges, but other than a police badge, he couldn't think of any other police themed decorations.

"Let's stick with Hawaii.  We can always claim we're reminding them what they're protecting."

"I'll leave getting the cupcakes out of the oven and frosted to you then."

Iolana abandoned him for her sugar creations at that point, leaving Danny with little to do but watch the ovens and keep an eye on the time.  With any luck, they should have half and hour to fifteen minutes to let things cool.  Yelling across the the way were Tara and Kiki.  Danny wasn't sure what was up with those two, but at least the show would get some good drama out of it.  There was something about the pair that was niggling at him though.  He would almost say they were afraid of something.  He hadn't heard any rumors about their business struggling but that didn't necessarily mean they weren't.

The timer dinged, and Danny shifted his attention to the task at hand.  The mocha cupcakes came out perfectly.  Both the yuzu-vanilla and the pineapple cupcakes had a few more minutes before they were ready.  Danny stowed the finished cupcakes in the fridge to cool and took a moment to set up the plates while he waited for the others to be finished.  He might not be able to fill them yet, but at least he could get things set up for easy assembly.  

Just as he was taking the last of the cupcakes out of the oven, Iolana appeared at his elbow.

"What do you think?"

A wide array of brightly colored surfboards and shirts off set by the more subdued silver anchors.

"Looks good to me."

"Bakers, you have fifteen minutes!"

Danny and Iolana traded a look before breaking into a flurry of activity.  it went down to the wire, but when time was called, Danny had three plates with three cupcakes on them.  They all looked good, and Danny kept that in mind as he was called up to present to the judges.

* * *

 

Steve had to admit that this was turning out to be a little more boring than he expected.  Yes, there were clearly things happening in each of the kitchens, but it wasn't like he could tell what was going on.  There was also the fact that Steve couldn't really care less about what was going on.  He didn't exactly mind tasting the cupcakes, but there were better ways that he could have spent his day.  And that didn't even count the event the governor was forcing him to attend afterwards.  Still, the time passed quickly enough even with all of the host's cheesy jokes.

Steve did his best not to wrinkle his nose when presented the first plate of cupcakes.  It was definitely not what he would call polished.  What he got was three almost radioactively bright cupcakes.  The first one was covered in an eye watering blue frosting with what might be charitably called a surfboard on top.  It was supposed to be some sort of blueberry cupcake, but it tasted more artificial than anything to Steve.  The second cupcake was the same color as an orange construction vest.  And it did taste likes oranges, but not much else.  The decoration was what was supposed to be handcuffs.  Finally, there was a bright pink cupcake that was supposed to watermelon flavored.  It didn't really remind Steve of watermelons though, and it's decoration, which was supposed to be a police shield, looked more like a ninja star.

Then it was Danny's turn.  His cupcakes were much more subdued in their looks, though anything would be after that.

"So we took our inspiration from the three original members of Five-Oh as well as the Hawaiian islands.  Our first cupcake is a chocolate cupcake topped with a mocha frosting made from Kona coffee.  It's decorated with a surfboard as a reminder of the place our law enforcement is protecting.  Our second cupcake is a pineapple cupcake with a Li Hing Mui filling topped with a pineapple frosting.  It has a fondant Hawaiian shirt on it again as a reminder of what is being protected.  The final cupcake is a yuzu vanilla cupcake with a yuzu frosting.  It's decorated with an anchor as a reminder of all of the maritime policing that goes on here in Hawaii as well as our naval presence."

All three cupcakes were absolutely delicious, but Steve had to admit that the yuzu vanilla was his favorite, and he appreciated the fact that they had remembered that the Navy helped out with the policing the islands.  The other judges seemed to like Danny's cupcakes well enough, though they weren't really all that thrilled with the decorations.  Steve ended up having to push back on that.

"I actually really like the decorations.  They might not be law enforcement specific, but they definitely evoke what we're trying to protect, and I like that they remembered that law enforcement doesn't just work on the land here."

That just left the final group to present their cupcakes.  They weren't as pretty as Danny's, but they certainly looked better than the first group of cupcakes to Steve's eyes.  There was a red velvet cupcake with a pair of handcuffs decorating it.  That was followed by a chocolate cupcake topped with a peanut butter frosting and a police shield.  The final cupcake was a carrot-ginger cake with cream cheese frosting and decorated with a gun.  None of them were spectacular, though they all tasted fine.  Steve liked carrot-ginger cake the best.  Still nothing about the cupcakes really leaped out at him.

The other judges liked the decorations though, and Steve was pretty sure that it would be the first person to go in this round.  It would be hard to come up something worse than those neon cupcakes.  So that meant Steve would get to see Danny's cupcakes in the next round too.

* * *

 

Danny was feeling pretty good as they headed into the third round.  While it was true that Florian and Candace hadn't exactly been thrilled about their decorations, they had soundly praised the cupcakes themselves.  Plus, it didn't hurt that the folks from the Big Island had presented pretty awful cupcakes.  So it was himself and Iolana against the ladies from Kiki's Cupcakes for the final round.  Iolana couldn't stop grinning, and Danny couldn't blame her.  She had really done the heavy lifting.  Danny had just baked things and done the actual presenting.  Iolana was the brains of the operation, and so far, she had led them to victory.  Danny just hoped she had an idea for their display.

As it turned out, Iolana already had a plan for them.  She grinned at the carpenter they had been assigned.

"So what I'm thinking is this I want a model of the islands with tiers for the cupcakes.  But I also want roads with police cars we can some of the cupcakes in.  Around the islands should be a couple ships like Coast Guard cutters and Naval vessels that we can put cupcakes in as well.  Does that sound doable?"

Their carpenter offered the two of them a smile.  "We'll see what I can do."

That just left Danny to marshal the troops and get the cupcakes made.

"Iolana, how many do you want?"

The teenager pursed her lips.  "Give me two to get started on the frostings and a third to work on decorations to start with.  Will that work?"

Danny nodded.  "Sure."

It was a little stranger to be giving directions to people he wasn't used to working with in the kitchen.  If they had been a bunch of rookies, Danny would have known exactly what to do with them.  Still, they managed to get the batters done and into the ovens in a reasonable amount of time.  Danny then took over some the frosting duties, so Iolana had three helpers for the decorations.  That was Danny's biggest worry.  Iolana was being both meticulous with the decorations as well as making some changes since that had been the major thing that Florian and Candace had criticized.  Thankfully, the judges had loved all of their cupcakes throughout the competition, so as long as they delivered the same quality cupcakes, they should be good there.

It was a bit of a scrambled to get everything ready.  The mocha cupcakes ended up taking longer to bake than planned which put them a little behind schedule.  Still, it wasn't like the almost complete chaos that was going on in the Kiki's Cupcakes kitchen.  Danny wasn't sure what was going on there, but it was clear that some had gone rather wrong.  Then again, he hadn't been able to figure out the one woman's increasing fear and tension which seemed to go up every time someone mentioned the words "law enforcement".

That was enough to at least spark Danny's interest.  Then again, there were plenty of reasons for someone to be uncomfortable around law enforcement unfortunately, but Danny wouldn't have expected this level of discomfort under normal circumstances.  Still, he had other things to worry about at the moment.  Like getting all the pineapple cupcakes filled and frosted before they ran out of time.  Thankfully, those were really the only cupcakes they were running behind on, though he was getting a bit concerned over the fact that there was no sign of their display so far.  They sort of needed that.

They were getting close to the final half hour when their display finally started to arrive.  Iolana clapped her hands with glee before hugging their carpenter.

"It's perfect!  Thank you so much."

With Iolana and one assistant putting the final touches on the final batch of cupcakes, that left Danny and the other three to start getting all the cupcakes on the display.

"All right folks.  Cupcakes with badges in police cars, anchors on boats, the rest wherever they fit.  Make sure you leave rumor for the last batch that are coming."

Danny lost the last bit of the competition in a haze of getting all the cupcakes on the display and making sure it all looked right.  Iolana came through with the final batch of cupcakes ready to go just before the announcement of ten minutes left was made.  From there it was a mad scramble to make sure everything was on the display and looking perfect.  Danny remembered enough from the episodes they'd watched that any little issue could scuttle a final depending on how the other team did.  He wasn't going to let that happen to them.

When the time was finally called, their display was filled with cupcakes that looked amazing.  Danny wrapped an arm around Iolana's shoulders with a grin.  He was pretty sure that they had this one.

* * *

 

Steve was ready for all this to be over with.  He already knew who he was choosing as the winner.  Danny had consistently had the best tasting cupcakes as well as ones that looked decent.  He also didn't seem that interested in simpering at and flirting with Steve which was a point in his favor.  Besides, the man definitely had the better display.  Or at least, he had a display that Steve understood by just looking at it.

Of course first he had to let each contestant explain their display.  The woman was called up first.  Steve could kind of tell what she was going for if he turned his head and squinted, but honestly, her display looked like a mess.  It wasn't very well organized and didn't really attract a lot of attention as a centerpiece.

"Kiki, tell us about your display," Justin instructed.

"We decided that we should highlight law enforcement by putting all of the cupcakes inside a giant police shield.  We also took your notes and tweaked some of the recipes.  I hope you enjoy."

The fact that she told them next to nothing about the changes she had made was a little suspicious to Steve.  Then Justin turned to Danny.

"Danny."

Danny stepped forward with a large smile.

"Our display highlights both our law enforcement as well as what they are protecting and serving.  You'll find police cars and boats around the islands holding the cupcakes.  The display is designed so that you can grab cupcakes from all sides.  Above each island is a banner with the island's name as well as the name of the event.  Please enjoy."

As they were dismissed so the judges could take a closer look at the displays, Steve couldn't help but notice the difference between the finalists.  Danny was definitely carrying some tension, but for the most part he was confident and composed.  Kiki, on the other hand, was almost shaking out of her boots for some reason.  Steve didn't know if it was just nerves or if she was really that terrified of losing.  He hadn't really thought much about the stakes of a cupcake baking contest.

Still, this was an easy competition to judge.  Danny had the best tasting cupcakes throughout the competition.  Danny had been the most consistent throughout the competition.  And Danny clearly had an understanding of the theme and executed it with style.  It certainly didn't hurt that he had been affable enough throughout this whole experience.  So there was no debate in Steve's mind who had won this thing.

Thankfully, the other judges agreed with Steve about who the winner should be.  Which meant they could get this whole experience over with as soon as the announced the winner.  Well, Steve still had to go to reception, but he was a little more used to those.  He really wouldn't want to do this again, but he had to admit that some of it had been interesting.  And he wouldn't turn down another chance to eat Danny's cupcakes.

* * *

 

Danny felt his gut clenching as they were called back into the main room.  He was pretty sure that he knew what the end result was going to be, but there was always the chance, however small, that Kiki would win instead.  He waited as Justin did his thing and drew the anticipation out.  Danny swore he saw Commander McGarrett roll his eyes at that part, but finally, the real announcement came.

"The winner of Cupcakes Wars is Danny!"

He found his arms full of Iolana and nearly deafened by her shriek.  Given that he was the father of an eight year old, he was used to this sort of thing, just on a slightly smaller scale.  Quite frankly, Danny couldn't blame her.  They had done it.  Now they just had to survive the reception, and this whole mess would be over with.  It would definitely be good for the shop, and the money would be nice, but this whole mess had really been a headache.  And Danny wasn't exactly looking forward to several hours of rubbing shoulders with the very people who hadn't seen fit to hire him.  Still, it might be a chance to make a few more connections locally that might lead to him getting back on the police force.

What Danny had not expected was that he would spend at least half of the reception arguing with one Commander Steven J. McGarrett.  Danny wasn't even sure what had started the argument, but he was pretty sure that they had been at it for a good half hour or so.

"Nobody in Hawaii wears a tie."

"Oh, sorry.  I like to look professional.  And might I point out that you are wearing a tie right now.  Yes, I know it goes with the uniform, but you are wearing it right not, so ergo, people in Hawaii do wear ties."

"Ergo?"

"Shut up, it's a perfectly--"

Laughter cut him off, and Danny looked away to find Kono with her arm around Iolana's shoulders and grin on her face.

"I didn't know there was someone who could actually keep up with you, brah."  Kono was looking rather pleased with herself.  "You should be nice to Danny though, especially since he makes most of those cupcakes you're so fond of."

This was apparently news to Commander McGarrett.  It was news to Danny as well, but he wasn't going to let on about that.

"I thought that came from your relative's shop?"

Danny snorted.  "We're called Kalakaua Cupcakes.  Making that connection shouldn't be a challenge for someone in law enforcement."

McGarrett sputtered at that, and Kono hauled him off before another argument could start.  Iolana just beamed at Danny.

"We did it."

"We did."

It wasn't police work, but today it felt pretty good.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve was craving cupcakes.  He blamed this on the fact that he'd spent the last weekend focused exclusively on them.  Well, that and going through the surveillance tapes of the Natsuoka brothers with Chin was proving to be extremely tedious.  They had yet to really get any hint of where the men might be distributing the drugs out of.  There was also the fact that Danny had left quite an impression on Steve.  He wasn't sure he had met anyone since he'd come back to the islands that had really challenged him like that.  Sure, Steve had gotten into arguments with folks, but they tended to back down pretty quickly.  Danny had seemed ready to argue with him until the sun went down.

The Natsuoka brothers appeared on the screen heading into a restaurant with a pair of women.  Chin frowned.

"That's their sister, Chikane.  We haven't linked her to any sort of criminal activity and aren't certain that she even knows what her brothers might be up to.  I don't recognize the other woman though."

Steve blinked.  "I do.  She was on that cupcake show.  She didn't win.  She's the twitchy one.  Kiki something I think.  I really didn't pay that much attention."

"She shouldn't be too hard to track down then.  The question is does she have anything to do with the Natsuoka's operation or is she just there for dinner?"

 

* * *

 

Things had pretty much gone back to normal at Kalakaua Cupcakes.  The episode hadn't aired yet, so both Danny and Iolana were under a gag order about the results until it did.  And they wouldn't get their money until it did either.  That wasn't exactly an issue, though Iolana had already made plans for what she wanted to do with most of it.  It also gave them time to prep for when their episode did air since Danny was pretty certain that once it did, they were going to get inundated with people who wanted to check out the shop and try the cupcakes they'd created for show.

He should be glad of all that.  But truthfully, Danny was a little bored.  As much as he liked his coworkers, baking cupcakes just wasn't the same as being a detective.  And he certainly couldn't take it home like he could with cases.  Far too often Danny went home with nothing but his own thoughts to stew in.  His weekends with Grace were pretty much the highlight of his month.  It wasn't much of a life, in all honesty, but it was something, and he got to see Grace on a fairly regular basis.

With a sigh, Danny transferred the latest batch of cupcakes to a tray to take out front.  It had been a busier Thursday than normal, and he was on his fourth batch of chocolate cupcakes for the day.  It was good that they were doing brisk business, but the shop had sold out of chocolate cupcakes within twenty minutes of opening, and that had set the tone for the day.  Iolana wouldn't be in for another few hours, so until then, Danny was pretty much in charge of the place.

Which means when one Commander Steven J. McGarrett strides into the shop, it's Danny's problem to deal with.

"I need a half dozen of the Citrus Dream cupcakes and to borrow you for at least the next few days."

"The cupcakes will be nine dollars," Danny told him.  "The borrowing will be never.  I don't know if you've noticed, but I happen to have a cupcake shop to bake for.  That doesn't leave time for gallivanting around causing explosions like you usually do."

Commander McGarrett blinked at him.  The Hawaiian man with him smirked.  Danny finished transferring the cupcakes into the case.

"You don't understand.  We need your help to solve our case."

"That's too bad.  I have rent to pay, and that doesn't happen if cupcakes don't get baked.  Besides, I find it hard to believe that the state's elite task force needs a cupcake baker in order to solve crimes."

To be completely honest, Danny was rather curious as to why they would need him for any sort of investigation.  Part of him would like to think that it was because they had done some basic research on him and thought he would be an asset to the team, but he really knew better than that.  So there had to be a reason that they were seeking out him of all people.  It certainly didn't seem to be Five-Oh's style for the most part.  Naia was already boxing up the Commander's cupcakes.

"What if we got someone to cover your shifts?"  McGarrett narrowed his eyes.  "We'll pay you for your time of course, so there won't be any lost wages."

Danny traded a glance with Naia. "I'd have to run it past the manager first, but if you can find a competent substitute and if my manager approves, we'll see."

He was pretty sure that would be the end of it.  Danny rather doubted that the commander had any professional bakers in the pockets of his cargo pants, and he didn't think that Iolana would agree to it either.  So he happily went back to work and let McGarrett pay for his cupcakes.  What Danny wasn't expecting was for the man to show up two days later with a young man in tow who looked like he could probably bench-press Danny.

"This is Petty Officer Aran.  He's here to learn what he needs to be your replacement for the next few days."

The redhead grinned at Danny.  "I figure it will be useful since I'm training as a pastry chef."

Danny blinked.   He couldn't believe this.  Clearly, the Navy turned normal people into very strange ones.

"Fine.  Follow me."

He spent the rest of the day showing Aran the ropes of the kitchen.  Danny hadn't realized until now just how much he'd absorbed at Kalakaua Cupcakes.  The fact that he had to really think about where they kept the recipes made him realize that he'd had them memorized for months now.  At least Aran was good at listening and following instructions, so by the end of the day Danny was reasonably sure that Aran would be able to manage on his own.  Not that Danny was happy about any of this, but at least he didn't have to worry about the shop while he was pulled along for this crazy endeavor.

Danny wasn't entirely sure what to expect the next morning when McGarrett came to pick him up and drop Aran off.  Despite the early hour, Danny had already downed at least three cups of coffee.  He would never admit it to McGarrett, but Danny was looking forward to this a little.  He'd missed detective work, and while he wasn't exactly pleased with the method of being dragged into this case, he might be complaining a little bit more than necessary.

McGarrett gave him a rundown of the case as they drove.  It was slightly hard to focus on the details with the man driving like a maniac, but it seemed the gist of things were that Five-Oh thought that drugs were being transported through the cupcake shop's supply deliveries, only they had no idea what might be typical for the shop to receive in supplies on a daily basis.  That's where Danny came in.

It wasn't a bad line of investigation.  Danny wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to tell the difference unless it was dramatic as he didn't know much about Kiki's Cupcakes' operations.  Still, it was worth looking into.  And it seemed like Five-Oh had done much of the hard work.  McGarrett pulled his truck into a parking spot that had a rather perfect view of the back of Kiki's Cupcakes'.

"Deliveries should start showing up in about twenty minutes," McGarrett explained.  "They've been pretty regular."

Danny nodded.  "Not surprising. Well, let's see what we've got."

It wasn't long at all before a parade of trucks started showing up.  Danny recognized more than a few of them as suppliers that Kalakaua Cupcakes used.  However, he could certainly say that Kiki's Cupcakes had far more suppliers than Kalakaua Cupcakes did.  About half of the suppliers that showed up where ones Danny didn't recognize, and most of those were from companies that he'd never heard of.

"Is this a weekly or a daily occurrence?  That's a lot of deliveries for a daily supply drop, but it might be reasonable for a weekly one."

McGarrett sighed.  "It's a daily occurrence.  At least as far as we've observed."

"Well, I know about half of the vendors showing up since we use them as well.  The others though, I'm not familiar with at all for the most part."

"I can have Chin and Kono look into that.  Anything else stand out?"

Danny shrugged.  "Given the volume of deliveries, it's hard to tell if anything is moving out of the shop, though they're definitely taking in more material than they need if this is a daily supply drop.  Something's definitely hinky about this."

They stayed another hour or so watching though there wasn't much to see once the flood of delivery trucks had gone.  The two of them were replaced by another team, and Danny was pleased to note that they were at least taking the police work involved sort of seriously.  Danny hadn't really expected that from Five-Oh.  Not given their reputation for mayhem and madness.

He also wasn't expecting for them to end up back at Five-Oh's headquarters rather than heading back to drop him off at Kalakaua Cupcakes.  Danny couldn't help but be curious though and didn't put up too much of a protest as he was led inside, especially not since there was the promise of more coffee.  It was hard not to be a little envious.  Five-Oh clearly had the funding for top of the line equipment, and the fact that they weren't all relegated to cubicles was nice.

Danny found himself escorted into a room with a fancy table and several other people.

"Chin, pull up the footage we have of the deliveries.  Let's see if it matches with what Danny was seeing this morning."

Danny rolled his eyes but grabbed a chair. 

 

* * *

 

 

Steve wanted to keep Danny.  He liked the way the other man interacted with his team, and he had more than a few insights that were useful when it came to their case.  He was a much better fit for them than Lori was.  And his background with the bakery had been really useful this time around.  It wasn't just that he knew about what supplies might be coming in and out and in what quantities, but he also had quite a bit of insight into the sort of capital that would move through the store and how much money it took to run a business like that.  And that had given them another avenue of investigation in order to link the bakery to the Natsuoka brothers.

It hadn't taken the team all that much digging to find a connection between Kiki Mori and Chikane Natsuoka.  And from there it didn't take a genius to figure out how Mori had gotten involved, especially once they had been able to get a hold of her financial records.  Altogether, it was enough for them to get authorization for a raid on Kiki's Cupcakes.  And Steve had to admit that he was kind of missing Danny's presence as they got suited up.  He might have dragged Danny to HQ a few more times than was really necessary, but Steve couldn't help himself.  Danny just fit in with the team so well, and even if they bickered more than anything else.

Chin arched an eyebrow at him as Steve let out a sigh.

"I was just thinking that it's too bad that Danny isn't here to see the payoff of all our hard work."

Chin just shrugged.  "You could have invited him.  I'm pretty sure his qualifications are enough that he could watch from the command center."

"What?"

"You do know that Danny was a police detective before moving here, right?" Chin gave him a look.

Steve blinked at him.  "You mean we could have hired him at the start of this and saved time and effort?"

Kono snorted.  "That's what you took from that?  Didn't you look at Danny's background check at all?"

"Not really.  I mean, I wasn't that worried about a cupcake baker being some sort of master criminal or terrorist."

Kono rolled her eyes.  "And you just assumed that Danny was a natural when it came to police investigations."

"Why don't we sort out the issue of Danny after the raid?" Chin suggested.  "I'm happy to wait, but I think HPD is getting a little antsy."

 

* * *

 

 

Returning to his regular shifts at Kalakaua Cupcakes was harder than Danny had expected.  It had been very easy to slip back into old habits during his short stint working with Five-Oh.  He had missed police work, and while Five-Oh's team might be slightly crazy to work with, they were good at their job.  And he would admit to enjoying riling Steve up quite a bit.  The man was clearly unfamiliar with the way police procedure actually worked and seemed to take the path of most resistance out of habit, but Danny found himself liking Steve anyway.  And it wasn't that Danny was unhappy with his current job.  He just wasn't happy with it either.  It was what it was.  So he did his best to push it out of his mind and focus on the things at hand.

He certainly wasn't expecting to come out of the kitchen with a tray of cupcakes to find Steve leaning against the counter chatting with Iolana.  Steve smirked at Danny.

"Is there a reason you're here or are you just trying to mooch more cupcakes?"

"I have a proposition for you," Steve said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Is this a job offer or a date?" Danny snarked.

"Both?"  Danny would almost swear that was a squeak that came out of Steve.  "I mean, I'd like you to come to dinner regardless of if you take the job or not, but I do have a job offer.  I'm looking for a partner, and you seem to fit in well with the team.  And not to be rude, but clearly you're wasting your talents here.  I mean, the cupcakes are delicious, but given your solve rate in Jersey, clearly it's not where your skills lie."

"He's not wrong," Iolana chimed in.  "We always knew that this was just a temporary thing for you from the start.  Kailani warned us all when she hired you that you'd be living for a police job eventually."

Danny shrugged.  "Fine.  You can convince me over dinner.  When and where?"

Steve offered him a genuine smile.  "My place at seven.  I'll text you the address."

Danny smiled back.  He was going to say yes, but it wouldn't hurt for Steve to think that he had wooing to do.  Both in regards to the job and in regards to dating.  Danny would even bring cupcakes for dessert.  After all, they were responsible for most of how all this turned out.  And it certainly didn't hurt that he knew Steve was partial to them.  It would be a sweet way of wrapping up a pretty good day, and it certainly didn't hurt to know what you could bribe your new team with.  Steve caught his eye just before ducking out the front door, and Danny couldn't help the grin on his face.  Maybe Hawaii wasn't quite as bad as he thought.

 


End file.
